Sunpyre (Joint Venture)
"I am the pretty mutant who fights for justice and tolerance! I am Sunpyre! And now, in the name of the Sun, I'll punish you!" ''~Rei Yashida, on her first mission as Sunpyre (and never, '''ever' again). Sunpyre is a mutant superheroine, the sister of Sunfire, who was briefly a member of the X-Men. This is the Joint Venture Universe version of the character. History Rei Yashida, and her brother Shiro, were born in the ancestral stronghold of Clan Yashida, in the hills overlooking the port city of Agarashima.Their family were staunch believers in tradition, including being governed by a "Lady" or "Lord" of the family, to whom the rest of the family answered. Growing up, none of this mattered to Rei or her twin brother Shiro in the slightest. Their mother, tragically, perished in childbirth, so Rei never knew her, but she and Shiro were raised by the Clan as a whole, rather than solely by their father, so they never truly felt the loss. They spent their days at school and their afternoons engaged in separate pursuits; Rei, like many Japanese girls her age (and American ones, for that matter), had loved anime from a very young age and wanted to be an animator herself when she grew up. She also spent a good deal of time with her cousin, Mariko, who was next in line to become head of the Clan and could use all the moral support she could get -- support that Rei was happy to provide. Moving to America Because of political unrest in their family leading to their father's unjust blame for attempting to depose the clan head, Rei and Shiro were forced to move out of Agarashima and go to America with their father Saburo as young teens. Rei's natural beauty, considered exotic by most Westerners, secured her the possibility of popularity. However, she retained her intelligence and integrity, going out of her way to reach out to people, especially the "uncool" kids, the ones who were bullied for being intelligent or bookish instead of pretty or athletic. This dented her popularity somewhat, but did not completely dampen it, and so middle school and high school were among the happiest and most peaceful times of Rei's life. The Death of Saburo, the Birth of Sunpyre Sadly, this peace wouldn't last. Saburo, who had taken a job at a Silicon Valley power plant, selflessly sacrificed himself to prevent a nuclear meltdown during a critical system malfunction. He lived just long enough to make it back home -- knowing that it was far too late for a hospital -- and spent his last moments with his children before dying of radiation poisoning. Perhaps it was the buildup of radiation in Saburo's body, or perhaps the emotional devastation of losing their father, but Shiro and Rei's mutant powers catalyzed the instant their father died. Now both commanded the raging fires of the Sun itself. They had become Sunfire and Sunpyre. Justice and Revenge Designing costumes for themselves (though Rei, of course, took a decidedly more Animesque approach to hers than Shiro), the siblings debated what to do without their father. Shiro, having found old documents and communiques in Saburo's office, discovered that their uncles, Tomo and Shingen, had been responsible for Saburo's exile to America, and the set of tragic circumstances that led to his death. If Tomo had not been a coward, or Shingen a tyrant, Shiro reasoned, Saburo would still be alive, and Rei found herself in agreement. Together the Yashida siblings flew back home under their own power, traveling across the Pacific Ocean in a matter of hours and hardly even winded when they arrived in Agarashima. Unfortunately, In their absence, Tomo had grown suspicious and paranoid that Saburo would one day seek revenge. He hired the Hand, a league of mystical assassins operating throughout most of Asia, to protect him from any attackers. Shiro wanted to attack head-on, but Rei insisted they needed a plan of attack. It was then that they met their greatest ally: an outsider, a Canadian named James Logan. He had come to Japan ins earch of inner peace and absolution, and instead found love when he met Mariko. Unfortunately, having fallen for her, Logan had also fallen headlong into the turmoil that was the Yashida family's intrigue. By working with Logan, and a thrill-seeking cat burglar named Yukio, the twins managed to overcome their opposition and make it inside. While Shiro departed in a fury to take on Tomo, Rei sought Mariko, wanting to see her cousin again, anxious to make sure she was safe. What she learned shocked and angered her to the core: Shingen had learned of Mariko and Logan's mutual attraction, and forced her into marriage to Noburo Hideki, a selfish man whom she did not love, a cruel man who abused her, purely out of spite. Infuriated by how he had treated her cousin, her childhood friend, and the heir to her Clan. Rei incinerated Hideki without a second thought. She then met up with Shiro, who had slain Tomo, and wanted to kill Shingen for his disgraceful treatment of their family and abuse of his power as Clan Lord. However, Shiro would never get his vengeance, for Shingen had dueled Logan and lost, leaving Mariko as the new Lord of Clan Yashida. Aftermath Rei had hoped that Shingen's death would bring peace to the clan and give them their old lives back. Unfortunately, she was only partly right. She and Shiro were welcomed back into the clan with open arms, given official ranks as its protectors alongside their cousin Kenichiro, and Mariko declared the family whole once more -- just before she announced her formal engagement to Logan, the Westerner who had won her heart and slain her father to protect her and her Clan. Rei was elated for Mariko, but Shiro was infuriated. He had not liked Logan from the start, and hearing Mariko speak of him as though he had saved Clan Yashida all by himself made Shiro feel as though his and Rei's contributions were unappreciated. Rei knew better -- she had seen the gratitude on Mariko's face when she looked up from the cinders that had been her abusive husband -- but Shiro would not listen to anyone, and stormed out of the castle in fury. Rei, Mariko, and the rest assumed that he would cool off and come back inside...but he never did. Sunpyre would not learn until far later that, in truth, Shiro had been captured by operatives of Weapon X and taken to North America to become their latest experiment. When Logan went to get help in retrieving him, Rei wanted to go as well, but Mariko forbid it. Logan was more than capable of saving Shiro, and Rei's place, she said, was protecting her clan and her nation. Begrudgingly, Rei accepted her cousin's command...she was, after all, the Lord of Clan Yashida. Eventually, word would reach her that her brother had elected to stay in America again, this time as a member of the mutant X-Men. Rei still sees him regularly through e-mails and video calls. She herself is one of the protectors of Clan Yashida, and she will not fail in that duty. Powers Rei is a mutant, with powers identical to her brother Shiro's -- namely, the ability to absorb cosmic rays, sunlight, and other forms of radioactivity and convert them into thermokinetic energy for her own use. * Plasma Blasts: She has the ability to project the flames he generates as powerful blasts of energy. * Plasma Emanation: Sunpyre can generate plasma temperatures of about 1,000,000 degrees Fahrenheit at maximum level. She can also release her power in a massive, omnidirectional "Supernova" that creates a sphere of superheated plasma around her. However, Rei has near-absolute control over the area of effect, enough to where one person may feel like they have been sunbathing all day, while a target next to them could be totally incinerated. * Heat Signature Sense: Rei has the ability to sense the presence of living beings by the heat signature they give off. * Plasma Shield: Sunpyre can manipulate plasma around her to such a degree that she can form an aura of flame that can destroy incoming weapons, melt bullets, and severely injure most physical attackers. * Flight: Sunpyre can use her powers to create super-heated air currents which push her forward through the air, enabling her to fly. This super-heated air is often visible as a trail of flame behind Sunpyre. The upper limit to the speed Sunpyre can achieve while in flight is not yet known. She can also carry someone else on these air currents without having them suffer any significant damage. * Pyrokinesis: In a more general sense, Rei can control and manipulate any fire or flame she creates, and utilize them in any way imaginable. She can alter her flames' shape, size, intensity, density, temperature, and even color to virtually anything she wishes. * Pyrotechnics: A specific use of her powers Sunpyre trains in: In addition to heat and flame, her fire can generate varying pyrotechnic effects, such as multicolored explosions or various brightly-colored balls of plasma that she can control or detonate at will. Ever the artist at heart. she uses these to create multicolored works of art out of fire, usually at family functions. Although this has little combat application outside of distracting an opponent, Rei enjoys practicing her powers in this manner far more than any combat training. * ''Fire Immunity: ''Rei is resistant to heat and flame up to the maximum temperature of fire she can generate. * ''Radiation absorption: ''Due to the nature of her power, Sunpyre is effectively immune to harmful radiation. Any sufficient quantity will simply be metabolized by her body into fuel for her flames. Weaknesses ''Otaku: ''Rei is a huge fan of anime, particularly of the Magical Girl variety. Normally this is just a harmless hobby, but as Sunpyre she often treats superheroics in the same way as one of the shows she enjoys, being overly dramatic or flashy where a simple, straightforward attack would have worked better. She is also prone to dramatic speeches while in costume, much to the chagrin of nearly anyone obliged to listen to them. ''Physical Limitations: ''Although she is immune to heat and fire, manipulating solar plasma does take its toll on Sunpyre. When she is tired or injured, her ability to control her fire is limited, and she runs a greater risk of inadvertently burning things -- or people -- she does not wish to. ''Radiation stores: ''Sunpyre's power draws from an energy reserve of absorbed radiation. If she is completely cut off from any source of radiation for too long, Rei will eventually run out of energy and be unable to produce a flame. ''Weakness to Cold: ''Rei's powers typically protect her from the cold automatically. However, concentrated blasts of intense cold will force her to turn her powers inward to compensate, which will use up her reserves faster. As such, she is vulnerable to cold attacks, like Iceman's ice powers or a concentrated, sustained blizzard from Storm. Category:X-Men: Joint Venture Category:Clan Yashida Category:Characters Category:Mutants Category:Female Characters Category:Good Characters Category:Japanese Category:Superheroes Category:Superheroes who think they're Magical Girls Category:Joint Venture characters Category:Pyrokinesis Category:Thermokinesis Category:Plasma Generation Category:Flight Category:Radiation Manipulation Category:Radiation Immunity Category:Fire Blasts Category:Fire Immunity Category:Clan Yashida (Joint Venture) Category:Joint Venture Universe